Old/New Testament
Parashat Shemot
Oppression in Egypt
1 Now these are the names of Bnei-Yisrael who came into Egypt with Jacob, each man with his family: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 The souls that came out of the line of Jacob numbered 70 in all, while Joseph was already in Egypt.
6 Then Joseph died, as did all his brothers and all that generation. 7 Yet Bnei-Yisrael were fruitful, increased abundantly, multiplied and grew extremely numerous—so the land was filled with them.
8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 He said to his people, “Look, the people of Bnei-Yisrael are too numerous and too powerful for us. 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them, or else they will grow even more numerous, so that if war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and then escape from the land.”
11 So they set slave masters over them to afflict them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Raamses as storage cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread. So the Egyptians dreaded the presence of Bnei-Yisrael. 13 They worked them harshly, 14 and made their lives bitter with hard labor with mortar and brick, doing all sorts of work in the fields. In all their labors they worked them with cruelty.
15 Moreover the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 and said, “When you help the Hebrew women during childbirth, look at the sex. If it’s a son, then kill him, but if it’s a daughter, she may live.” 17 Yet the midwives feared God, so they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the boys live. 18 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this—let the boys live?”
19 The midwives told Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women. They are like animals,[a] and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 20 So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, growing very numerous. 21 Because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own.
22 But Pharaoh charged all his people saying, “You are to cast every son that is born into the river, but let every daughter live.”
Young Moses
2 Now a man from the house of Levi took as his wife a daughter of Levi. 2 The woman conceived and gave birth to a son. Now when she saw that he was delightful, she hid him for three months. [b] 3 But when she could no longer hide him, she took a basket of papyrus reeds, coated it with tar and pitch, put the child inside, and laid it in the reeds by the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood off at a distance to see what would happen to him.
5 Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe, while her maidens walked along by the riverside. When she saw the basket[c] among the reeds, she sent her handmaiden to fetch it. 6 When she opened it, she saw the child—a baby boy crying! She had compassion on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew children.”
7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Should I go and call a nurse from the Hebrews to nurse the child for you?”
8 Pharaoh’s daughter told her, “Go!” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9 Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. 10 After the boy grew older she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. So she named him Moses saying, “Because I drew him out of the water.”[d]
11 Now it happened in those days, after Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brothers and saw their burdens. He noticed an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. [e] 12 So he looked around and when he saw that there was nobody, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 Then he went out the following day, and saw two Hebrew men fighting. So he said to the guilty one, “Why are you beating your companion?”
14 But the man answered, “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Are you saying you’re going to kill me—just as you killed the Egyptian?”
Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “For sure the deed had become known.” 15 When Pharaoh heard about this, he tried to kill Moses.
But Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian,[f] where he sat down by a well. 16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters who came and drew water. They filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. 17 But shepherds came and drove them away, so Moses stood up, helped them and watered their flock.
18 When they came to Reuel their father, he said, “How come you’ve returned so soon today?”
19 So they told him, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds. He also drew water for us and watered the flock.”
20 “Where is he then?” he said to his daughters. “Why did you leave the man behind? Invite him to have some food to eat!”
21 Moses was content to stay on with the man. Later he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. 22 She gave birth to a son and he named him Gershom, saying, “I have been an outsider[g] in a foreign land.”
23 Now it came about over the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. Bnei-Yisrael groaned because of their slavery. They cried out and their cry from slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their sobbing and remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25 God saw Bnei-Yisrael, and He was concerned about them.
Angel of Adonai in a Burning Bush
3 Now Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. So he led the flock to the farthest end of the wilderness, coming to the mountain of God, Horeb. [h] 2 Then the angel of Adonai appeared to him in a flame of fire from within a bush. So he looked and saw the bush burning with fire, yet it was not consumed. 3 Moses thought, “I will go now, and see this great sight. Why is the bush not burnt?”
4 When Adonai saw that he turned to look, He called to him out of the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!”
So he answered, “Hineni.”
5 Then He said, “Come no closer. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” So Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
7 Then Adonai said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their slave masters, for I know their pains. 8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, to bring them up out of that land into a good and large land, a land flowing with milk and honey, into the place of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. [i] 9 Now behold, the cry of Bnei-Yisrael has come to Me. Moreover I have seen the oppression that the Egyptians have inflicted on them. 10 Come now, I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people Bnei-Yisrael out from Egypt.”
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring Bnei-Yisrael out of Egypt?”
12 So He said, “I will surely be with you. So that will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt: you will worship God on this mountain.”
13 But Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to Bnei-Yisrael and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His Name?’ What should I say to them?”
14 God answered Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.[j]” Then He said, “You are to say to Bnei-Yisrael, ‘I AM’ has sent me to you.” 15 God also said to Moses: “You are to say to Bnei-Yisrael, Adonai, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My Name forever, and the Name by which I should be remembered from generation to generation.
16 “Go now, gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them: ‘Adonai, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—has appeared to me, saying, I have been paying close attention to you and have seen what is done to you in Egypt. 17 So I promise I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt, into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.’
18 “They will listen to your voice. So you will go, you along with the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and say to him: ‘Adonai, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to Adonai our God.’ 19 Nevertheless, I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, except by a mighty hand. 20 So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders that I will do in the midst of it. After that, he will let you go.
21 “Then I shall grant these people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians. So it will happen that when you go, you will not leave empty-handed. 22 Every woman is to ask her neighbor and the woman who lives in her house for silver and gold jewelry and clothing. You will put them on your sons and your daughters. So you will plunder the Egyptians.”
Yeshua’s Cousin Beheaded
14 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Yeshua. 2 He said to his servants, “This is John the Immerser—he has risen from the dead! Because of this, these powers are at work in Him.” 3 For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, 4 because John had been telling him, “It is not permitted for you to have her.” [a] 5 Although Herod wanted to kill John, he feared the crowd because they considered John a prophet.
6 But when Herod’s birthday celebration came, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod, 7 so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Immerser, here on a platter!” 9 The king became sorrowful; but because of his oaths and those reclining with him, he commanded it to be given. 10 And he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. 11 His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12 John’s disciples came forth and took the body and buried it. Then they went and reported to Yeshua.
Feeding Hungry Followers
13 Now when Yeshua heard this, He went away from there privately by boat to an isolated place. But when the crowds heard, they followed Him on foot from the towns. 14 As Yeshua came ashore, He saw a large crowd and felt compassion for them and healed their sick. 15 When it became evening, the disciples came to Him, saying, “This place is isolated, and the hour is already late. Send the crowds away so they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”
16 But Yeshua said to them, “They don’t need to leave—you give them something to eat.”
17 “We have nothing here except five loaves and two fish,” they said to Him.
18 “Bring them here to Me,” He said.
19 Ordering the crowd to recline on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish; and looking up to heaven, He offered the bracha. After breaking the loaves, He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve baskets full of broken pieces left over. 21 Now those eating were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.